Pumpkins on my mind

I have had this image burnt onto my memory for the longest time. This bizarre polka-dotted gigantic outdoor pumpkin—no, just a replica—constructed of fiberglass and paint—sits, heavy, serene, at the end of a pier somewhere in Japan, at the very edge of its Inland Sea.

This is the famous/infamous sculpture of Benesse House (grateful thanks to okayama.over-blog.com for the stunning photo): And one day, hopefully soon, I will go to see and touch the real thing, and maybe even, as one TIME writer did, lick it.

P.S. I have a thing for squashes and pumpkins. Photo below was taken in 2005 in France, near Avernes. I think it must be their shape. So rounded, the colors so lush, and the sweetness so perfect as counterpoint to ampalaya in pinakbet!

Food moments

I love living in Hongkietown for the most part, and I especially adore the amazing diversity of Chinese cuisine, but if there's one thing travel has taught me, it's to appreciate not-to-be-duplicated gastronomical glories in situ. (Photo is a pear growing on a tree in the garden where P and C got married -- tempting no?).

Following are my top 10 food moments from last year's vacation in France:

1. The bucketful of tasty, tasty, juicy mussels at Chez Leon, right on Champs Elysées. L’eau de pollution added a certain piquancy to the flavor.
2. Buckwheat crepes with cheese and mushrooms in Normandy, washed down with glasses of delightful cider
3. The sweetest green prunes and the juiciest pears straight off Auchan’s produce carts (I know it’s only Auchan, but I’m easy to please)
4. Potato chips à la ancienne or with moutarde. We munched on them in the car, in hotel rooms, along the autoroute, while picnicking at the various airs, in the garden, dans ma chambre, in the TGV…you get the idea
5. Stolen grapes from various Bordeaux vineyards (wages of sin: I got a nasty rash from a nettle-like weed growing alongside the vines)
6. Le photographe delicieux at the wedding (well, not exactly food but….)
7. My totally fab tan (comme une toasted brioche) acquired on the beaches of Pays Basque (again, not strictly food…)
8. Stuffed baked peppers with beautifully spicy-meaty chorizo de Bilbao that we had bought just the day before in Bilbao
9. Anchovy-fragrant Caesar salad with the nicest yellowy-yolky soft-boiled eggs and croutons
10. Pain d’épices!

And yes.....Foie gras! Foie gras! Toujours foie gras!

Read Philip Pullman

Fine vapors escape from whatever is doing the living.
The night is cold and delicate and full of angels
Pounding down the living. The factories are all lit up,
The chime goes unheard.
We are together at last, though far apart.

- from "The Ecclesiast" by John Ashberry

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy - the lines above prefaced the second book -- is a must-read. I was led to it by one of those sometimes incomprehensible Amazon recommendations, ordered the first book The Golden Compass. After devouring that in almost just one sitting, I promptly ordered the other two books - The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

This series is a must-read but definitely a provocative one. I learnt only later that it has actually started a firestorm of discussion between those who believe it is blasphemous against the Catholic/Christian church, and those who think it merely opens new ways of thinking about sin, the Church, our religious beliefs. Myself, I didn't realize it was actually potentially heretical until I read about the controversy, at which point I re-read the books.

I've moved!

Check out my new blog.

Bonne récuperation!

A pink poppy for health for Maman, who broke her hip last month

Chère Maman,

Comment vas-tu? Remets-toi vite...Tu me manques beaucoup.

J'espère te revoir bientôt. Bonne récupération! Je t'embrasse très fort,

moi